Massive Debut Sales for iPhone 4

Strong first weekend sales make the iPhone 4 the most successful product launch in Apple's history.

By Scott Lowe

Today Apple announced today that they have sold just over 1.7 million iPhone 4s in three days, making it the most successful product launch in the company's history.

The iPhone 4 launched on Thursday, June 24, and was met with long wait lines at retailers, with some larger metropolitan areas reporting up to 12 hour waits. Between June 24 and Saturday, June 26, Apple says that over 1.7 million units were sold in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. Pre-orders were estimated at roughly 600,000 units in the first 24 hours availability, and new online orders and reservations have been met with delayed deliveries due to high demand.

In a statement today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs commented on the iPhone 4's landmark sales, but also addressed the concerns of consumers who went home empty handed this weekend.

"This is the most successful product launch in Apple's history," said Jobs. "Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply."